Russian photographer Andrey Pavlov takes the craziest pictures of ants you're ever likely to see. He doesn't use CG or Photoshop to get the ants to do what he wants. Instead, Pavlov sets up little scenes, is enormously patient and apparently knows exactly the right way to poke a live ant to get it to pose just so. (More on that in a minute.)

It's a photography collection that's reminiscent of Tokyo's favorite "levitating girl" Natsumi Hayashi, who also took hundreds of photos of the same scene until she managed to capture that perfect, surreal shot.

According to Pavlov, getting the ants to participate in his "fairy tales" wasn't all that hard as they're naturally curious insects. Speaking to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, Pavlov had this to say:

"I used to work in theatre which was a big help when it came to making props, and I chose ants because I respect them and their way of life… I take my inspiration from humans but luckily for me ants are quite inquisitive, which seems to make them very willing participants."Pavlov "spent hours setting up the scenes," according to Daily Mail, and recruited the ants from an anthill nearby his house in Moscow.

See the gallery down below for more photos from Pavlov's amazingly posed ants. Delighting even beyond the shock of ants behaving so well are Pavlov's excellent, crisp photos with their dramatic framing and vibrant colors.